Conspiracy Theories, Skepticism, and Critical Thinking

 The appendix in a written work (not that horrible little organ that put me in the hospital a few months back) is supposed to be where we add things to the work. This is either reference materials printed in full that didn’t make sense to include in the main body, like letters or in modern times social media posts. It’s also where some authors will make a commentary in a second edition to their work. For Cooper, it makes sense to include his military record. He spent way too long in the beginning of the work informing us about it, but placing his military record is an thing for an appendix. The section titled “Appendix B: UFOS and Area 51,” is an addition that makes little sense. The first document is just someone’s letter to some people (it’s addressed in the plural), the Cooper has just reprinted here. Given how disjointed the book has turned out to be, it’s not the inclusion of the letter that vexes me it’s the inclusion of the letter in the appendix that confuses me. Why not ju...

 I’m going to be honest, I was a bit surprised but here we are at the last chapter. Yes, the very last chapter in this book. The chapter is going to provide us with documentation, but no commentary, that the US Army Intelligence has some kind of link with the Satanic Church. The documentation that he provides, I’ll assume is legitimate, but this chapter ends up seeming like a waste of time. Well, we haven’t skipped a chapter yet so let’s dive in… The first document claims that a San Francisco PD officer came across proof that the leader of the “Temple of Set” was a Major in the US Army Reserve’s Intelligence division. Two other members, according to SFPD were also intelligence officers in the Army. The document confirms that the names listed are Army Intelligence Reservists, but “ since it was not a criminal matter, military intelligence would be advised and likely contact her. ” The date on the document is 1981. This is important, I’ll mention why later. The next document is from...

 May continues with a non-sequitur about the American government’s debt in general but toward “Arab Countries” in particular. Conservatives love bringing up the debt when they are not in charge of the government; conservative conspiracy theorists love bringing it up all of the time. They do this because it is boring, but it seems important. Only economists like talking and hearing about national debt, business people do—but in specific venues, everyone else just likes to complain about it without understanding any of it. Debt ceiling conversations are a solid example of this. It sounds like a legit argument—we should stop spending money we don’t have. However, that’s not the debt ceiling, the debt ceiling is about paying money that’s already been spent. People think that not raising the debt ceiling is the same as not buying that new television, when instead, it’s more like no longer paying your utility bill. You already used the electricity, now you have to pay for it. That’s all ...

 If you get that reference, you’re as old as me. Jonathan May has now decided that England isn’t for him and moved, as all international businessmen do—to Oklahoma. I’m not knocking the state of Oklahoma, but this is an odd move for someone like May. The entire section so far is a humble brag and his move to Oklahoma seems like a letdown for what he’s claimed so far. He’s trying to claim that, well I’m not sure what he’s trying to claim. What we know from him is that he inherited some money from Charles I, then made thousands of tiny businesses, was a successful middleman, and then earned the ire of some local police. All of this prompts the move to the United States to get away from the harassment in the UK. Why doesn’t he move to New York, or, since the story is taking place in the early 80s, San Francisco? Or try Chicago…of course, I’m missing that he’s not providing a detail—where in Oklahoma did he move? It’s a big state, it’s not Alaska but Oklahoma is huge. We can assume he ...

Last week we discovered that an ancestor of Jonathan May’s was given a benefit by King Charles I, and no one in his family ever knew this. He then began to invest and set up charters for thousands of different businesses (?) in order to collect on it or something. He was, as he claims, already a successful businessman and this was just more money for him. We left off with his claim that, “ I discovered that a minute cartel controlled all banking policies worldwide, and that the provision or non-provision of ‘money’ was all controlling.” Because we just finished reading the Protocols inside this book, I have a certain expectation for what May is going to claim (hint: I think he’s going to blame the Jews), but I do have to suspend that. So far we know very little, and what we do know is very difficult to verify. This is largely because May likes to brag alot. He’s a very successful businessman, even though he has no education. He claims that he is known for finding things at good price, ...

No more Protocol numbers. We leave Cooper’s inclusion of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion for new writing. This chapter is titled “The Story of Jonathan May,” and I assumed that it would be Cooper reporting some conspiracy about this person. However, it’s not that at all: it’s a letter from May to Cooper. Rather, it’s a letter that May sent to five members of congress pleading his case. This is a 26-page long letter, and I almost feel bad for the congressional aide that had to read it, though it must have made for a good discussion over drinks. How Cooper acquired the letter is never explained. I don’t know if he was also sent a copy. My first complaint is that this is 26 pages long. I read, I read a lot. At my side gig I am known for the fact that on long breaks I sometimes have a book. My complaint isn’t the length because it’s too long for me to read. My complaint is that I want to read Cooper’s book, not an anthology of weird conspiracy documents he found on a BBS service back i...

The strangest thing about this post is that I do not know exactly how to write it. I’d always intended to cover this book—in fact, it was going to follow Behold a Pale Horse. However, the framing of this book within another book changes things because of the context. I had also known that the Protocols were in this book as well, but I assumed they were abridged in some fashion and not just plagiarized entirely. That changes things a little bit, but by that much. The first thing I want to say about it is that this is definitely a case of something I would like to call “the Mona Lisa Effect.” Think of the Mona Lisa. Ok, how big is that painting? In most people’s heads it looms large, but it’s about the size of a normal portrait (it’s actually 30 by 21), not tiny but not the wall covering monolith that we picture it because of its reputation. This is similar to Machiavelli’s “The Prince.” That book can be read in a few hours, it’s very short; but it has a reputation. The Protocols are li...